Tools

There are many, many excellent free applications and tools available on the web, for the looking. Many we have tried have been as good or better than their un-free fellows. Below is a short listing of some resources we’ve found valuable:
free software
FileZilla: a great, free, super easy to use, powerful FTP tool from mozilla.org, the geniuses that brought us FireFox. Makes uploading multiple files to multiple destinations a snap .. set up your queue and go enjoy a cup of tea! Also makes handling file / directory permissions a cinch. Very reliable and free, of course.
Password Corral: this little utility has proven to be vital, with every other site requiring a password; handy notes and URL features make it easy to keep it all straight.
IrfanView: this free graphics viewer can handle anything you throw at it; it’s small & fast with shell extension options, thumbnails, file conversions, color adjustment and resizing.
Free Download Manager: a great, reliable, free download manager, which allows you to manage number of simultaneous downloads, resume, etc. Full browser integration – even with FireFox and IE7. No spyware–unlike some–and not a space or memory hog.
OpenOffice: “…is both an open-source application and project. It is free. The product is a multi-platform office productivity suite compatible with all major file formats.” The save as PDF option is great for files and attachments, since there’s no danger of virus infection, as with that other office suite. The graphics and text tools are integrated, and so far, none of that annoying, randomly imposed formatting . Super for preparing presentations!
Mozilla FireFox: this is the pared down, super small (for a browser) download, great security, always free, very fast browsing … From the great minds at Mozilla .. an improvement on their already great browser. FireFox is a browser only and not an entire suite as are Mozilla, Netscape and that other browser whose name we’ve forgotten .. As with Mozilla, constant improvements and great add-ons. Smaller & faster, more secure than that “other” browser, not tied to your operating system and the downloads are fast & easy.
SourceForge: there’s truth in the motto, “Where Open Source Development Happens”. An unreal searchable directory of open source projects and downloads… Anything you need, free.
e-commerce tools
Let’s face it, no matter what e-commerce program you use to build your site(s), you’re going to need to be able to accept credit cards.
PayPal: “the way to send and receive money online”. Let’s face it, no matter what e-commerce program you use, you’re going to need to be able to accept credit cards. One way to get into the game, without an initial outlay or a monthly fee, is PayPal. It’s easy to sign up for, very secure for you and your customers and plugs right in to both Zen Cart and OS Commerce. Accept credit card payments and electronic fund transfers right into your bank account without a merchant account, free to join, low fees. PayPal is quite proactive with regard to security and your customers are able to pay you without opening an account. A major improvement.
USPS Rate Calculator and Shipping Label API’s: regardless of which e-commerce application you use, you will want to integrate automatic shipping rate calculation. These API’s are simple to sign up for and plug right in to Zen Cart and OS Commerce. Major convenience for you and your customers, free and easy to use–beat that!
Zen Cart™: “.. truly is the art of e-commerce; a free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart system. The software is being developed by group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think e-commerce could be and should be done differently.” Evolved from OS Commerce, Zen Cart is intended to be a simplification, with faster implementation and less coding ability necessary. Not being, or having time to become a php guru as a pre-requisite of building a site, we selected Zen Cart for our e-commerce sites; after downloading and having a go at both OS Commerce and Cube Cart. Here’s an uncustomized, out of the box, Zen Cart demo store.
Zen Cart™ forums: a great source of information on any aspect of installation and customization. Any problem you may encounter has probably been encountered and resolved before.
Zen Cart™ tutorials: get off to a fast start with these handy guides on setup, installation, customization … You name it, it’s here, free and up to date. An invaluable resource for Zen Cart users.
OS Commerce: this is a phenomenal tool! Open source e-commerce storefront with integrated shopping cart and payment modules
OS Commerce Community Support: Any question you have has been asked and solved before. Search, read, download and go!
OS Commerce Contributions: these are modifications and customizations to the store written community of users
OSCdox: “The OSCdox project is dedicated to providing much needed documentation to OS Commerce”
free business & site tools
XOOPS: an easy to implement open source content management system, great for small sites. Excellent for fleshing out a blog or portal site. Unlike some more involved CMS programs, XOOPS is straightforward and easy to implement, without a major time commitment. We found all the information needed to customize our implementation on the support site. Great add-on modules and themes are available from the developers and the user community.
SelfPromotion: great online site promotion program allowing you to submit your site to a huge array of indexes and search engines, with in depth instructions and lots of good information. Straightforward interface, good support and SUPER reasonable (voluntary donation)
“Clickfire – Viewpoints, Tools, and Content for Webmasters – Free” : “Empowers webmasters with free search engine and web design resources like graphics, articles, reviews, freeware, tutorials ..” They have a freeware application for generating meta tags on web pages. Get it! This is a well organized site with lots of great tools. Just keep looking. Don’t miss “Metty”, the meta tag generator program, an excellent tool!